Epic Homemade Medusa Costume

I am wearing my homemade Medusa costume. The idea came to me when I went to Ren Fest one weekend dressed in my ice dragon costume and a boy called me Medusa. I never thought of being her, but the tragic tale struck a chord with me.

I did tons of research. Not only was she a gorgon, but she was actually an African queen, priestess, and goddess in her village of Libya.

After completing my research, I made countless drawings to map out what I wanted my main outcome to look like. I focused on the colors green, black, purple, and silver to show both the historical and mythological aspects of all her legends combined. Finally, I came up with the final drawings.

How I Made My Homemade Medusa Costume

First I bought black rainbow spandex from Spandex World.
From there I duct taped my mannequin and drew the design onto it.
I wanted her to be sexy and yet resemble a snake.
I also wanted to be able to move, so I gave it a mermaid like tail train. It’s separate pieces, so I can change to the other top I made whenever I want to.
Next, I made the headdress from three thick wires and measured my head to fit it perfectly
I wrapped the wires in base tape and burned the ends.
I then added more wires to create the oval shape to resemble a cobra hood.
Next, I added rope, skulls, beads, mirrors, silver tassels and a long moleskin train.
I created the staff by using a Michaels’ bought bamboo staff and then cut out wood and cardboard to shape the snake.
I molded my staff after the three most common and deadliest snakes in Africa; the black mamba, viper and black acid spitting cobra.
I sprayed expanding foam all over the wood and cardboard and carved out the shape.
I then paper mached the snakes about three or more times so I could add gesso and paint it. I also added mirrors and gelatin scales.
My sphere on top of the staff is a Christmas decoration that I put hot glue and mirrors over to show aging.
I worked on the gelatin scales that were made with glycerin and gelatin for my hands, collarbone, chest, and arms.
Finally my face paint was added. It was the fifth time I did this. It’s my original design, but I added purple and more details. I wanted to stick with both legends. She was either red, brown or green, so I settled on green since green and purple are seen as acid colors.
I then wanted to resemble a cobra so I added rings to my face and scales to areas of my face that are more defined. I used Mehron, Snazaroo, Urban Decay, Mac and Katvondee products.
My dress was sprayed green on the tips and some was wrapped in thin silver wires so I could bend them like snakes if I wanted to.
All my jewelry was purchased. I wanted the costume to have a sense of irony (mirrors) like the Greek legend and royalty from the African queen legend.
I am wearing two belly dancing belts, one snake collar choker, four necklaces, silver hoops, two Cleopatra bronze cuffs, my normal bracelets, two arm cuffs, two ankle bells, all of my piercings, rings, and a septum.
To top it off, I wore my yellow cat eye contact lenses to resemble a reptile’s eyes.

I wanted children to be scared of me, but instead they called me Calypso and Ursula and hugged me and called me beautiful. That actually shocked me. Kids can see beyond the makeup. Just like when I was goth and children flocked to me and called me pretty. I was about to cry in my makeup. It made me so happy. They wanted me to pose with them and hold my staff. Babies touched my hand scales and played with them. Mums wanted tips on how to make the scales so they could entertain their kids for hours. I felt loved.

How I Made My Homemade Medusa Costume

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